The present invention relates to a facsimile and an information processing apparatus capable of executing a plurality of jobs in parallel.
It is a known fact that, many of the recent facsimiles are capable of executing in parallel a read job for generating facsimile data from a manuscript to be transmitted via facsimile, a facsimile transmission job for transmitting facsimile data to a specified facsimile destination, a facsimile reception job for receiving and storing transmitted facsimile data, and a print job for printing facsimile data received and stored by the facsimile reception job, and also queuing facsimile transmission jobs and print jobs. In short, many of the recent facsimiles are capable of reading a facsimile manuscript even when some facsimile data remains untransmitted and receiving facsimile even when some facsimile data remains unprinted.
Such a facsimile, that is, a facsimile capable of executing a plurality of jobs in parallel, is capable of providing a list of simple information (hereinafter referred to as the summary information) on the running jobs and waiting jobs for print jobs and facsimile transmission jobs on a display provided on its housing or console. The facsimile is also capable of providing on the display simple information on the contents (hereinafter referred to as summary information) of a print job or a facsimile transmission job whose summary information has been selected.
In case a user who has checked the detailed information on a job wishes to check the detailed information on another job, the facsimile must first display a list of summary information then select detailed information on the target job.
An information processing apparatus capable of executing various jobs (for example a digital multifunction machine), same as the facsimile, must select the type of a job whose detailed information is to be displayed then select a job whose detailed information is to be displayed.
In short, existing facsimiles and information processing apparatus must carry out relatively cumbersome work in order to check the contents of the running/waiting jobs.
Further, in such a facsimile, that is, a facsimile capable of executing a plurality of jobs in parallel, the user must perform the following operation when wishing to cancel a job.
The user wishing to cancel a job presses a button (hereinafter referred to as the Stop button) provided on the housing of a facsimile (console) for instructing cancellation of a job. With this operation, a list of information on running/waiting jobs appears on a display (typically a touch-sensitive screen) provided on the housing of the facsimile. The user selects a single item of information from the list. When this operation is made, the facsimile provides on the display a screen for making an inquiry to the user about whether to cancel a job corresponding to the selected information. The user performs operation to instruct cancellation of the job on the screen.
In this way, on a related art facsimile capable of executing a plurality of jobs in parallel, the user wishing to cancel a job must perform at least three types of operation. On an information processing apparatus capable of executing various jobs (for example a digital multifunction machine) the user wishing to cancel a job must perform at least three types of operation, same as the related art facsimile.